OT re: FlightRadar24

[RutgersRaRa]

I recently got the app, and am not sure which part of the phone should be pointed at the direction of the flights I want to see. For instance, when I point the screen toward the aircraft or airport, it doesn't show flight info. Anyone (read: 4real) with the skinny? Please make my beautiful-weather vacation go that much better. TIA.

 

[RU4Real]

I'm utterly confused.

FR24 basically has 2 modes of operation.

The normal mode is the PPI display (what most people know as a "radar screen") overlaid onto a map and shows all aircraft as icons. Additional information layers for each icon are selectable: e.g. Flight #, Airline, Registration, Altitude / Heading / Airspeed, Source and Destination. The extent to which these are selectable depends on if you're using the free version or if you've signed on for a membership (which brings additional perks).

The other mode is "Camera Mode" (they call it something else, but my phone is in the other room). You open the app in that mode and your camera screen is displayed. Wherever you point the camera, any aircraft within that viewing region will be displayed as described above, in the approximate position the aircraft would be with respect to your own field of vision, if you could in fact see it (you rarely can, because most of them are miles away).

TBH, I only use it in display mode. I don't much care about the camera thing.

Little known fact, for iPhone users:

You don't need an app to have fun with air traffic. At any time, ask Siri, "What airplanes are overhead". You'll get a shockingly immediate response on the phone display.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

And that's the issue I'm having--when I click on the binoculars, which enables the view through the screen (probably what you call "camera mode"), there is an on-screen instruction to "Point to horizon." When I point the screen so it has a plane on the screen, it rarely displays flight info.

 

[RU4Real]

And that's the issue I'm having--when I click on the binoculars, which enables the view through the screen (probably what you call "camera mode"), there is an on-screen instruction to "Point to horizon." When I point the screen so it has a plane on the screen, it rarely displays flight info.

Hmm. Not sure. I'll have to try it tomorrow and see what I get.

Offhand, it's worth noting that the positioning isn't always dead-on-balls accurate. The position information on all these apps is aggregated from a couple different data sources. The FAA data, which is the least precise of the three data types, can be as much as five minutes delayed. A plane can move pretty far in five minutes.

 

[Piscataway]

I'm utterly confused.

FR24 basically has 2 modes of operation.

The normal mode is the PPI display (what most people know as a "radar screen") overlaid onto a map and shows all aircraft as icons. Additional information layers for each icon are selectable: e.g. Flight #, Airline, Registration, Altitude / Heading / Airspeed, Source and Destination. The extent to which these are selectable depends on if you're using the free version or if you've signed on for a membership (which brings additional perks).

The other mode is "Camera Mode" (they call it something else, but my phone is in the other room). You open the app in that mode and your camera screen is displayed. Wherever you point the camera, any aircraft within that viewing region will be displayed as described above, in the approximate position the aircraft would be with respect to your own field of vision, if you could in fact see it (you rarely can, because most of them are miles away).

TBH, I only use it in display mode. I don't much care about the camera thing.

Little known fact, for iPhone users:

You don't need an app to have fun with air traffic. At any time, ask Siri, "What airplanes are overhead". You'll get a shockingly immediate response on the phone display.

Just asked Siri. Cool.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

Hmm. Not sure. I'll have to try it tomorrow and see what I get.

Offhand, it's worth noting that the positioning isn't always dead-on-balls accurate. The position information on all these apps is aggregated from a couple different data sources. The FAA data, which is the least precise of the three data types, can be as much as five minutes delayed. A plane can move pretty far in five minutes.

Okay, this must be the 4Real touch. I just went for a nice walk and pointed it at the aircraft, and it gave me accurate info for the first time since I've had it, including in Jersey. Thanks for calling whoever you did to make it work.